Climate change already
impacted our country
in terms of water resources,
agriculture production
and also
loss of biodiversity
and loss of our equipment,
especially for those areas
that are vulnerable to
the drought and flooding
and also sea level rising.

Halo gracious viewers
and welcome to
this week’s edition of
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home
where we will be
examining the impacts
of climate change
on the island nation
of Timor-Leste
as well as hear from
some of the country’s top
environmental officials
regarding the steps
the nation is taking to
address this serious issue.

Located in Southeast Asia
to the northwest
of Australia,
The Democratic Republic
of Timor-Leste includes
the eastern half
of Timor Island
and other territories.
Approximately
1.1 million people inhabit
this splendid country
characterized by
mountainous terrain
and a tropical climate .
Let us first hear from
Mr. Adao Soares Barbosa
who is deeply involved
in setting Timor-Leste’s
climate change policy.

My name is
Adao Soares Barbosa.
I am a National Focal Point
for the United Nations
Commission
of Climate Change and
as well as I’m acting as a
climate change negotiator
to the United Nations.
Besides that,
I also have been acting
as a national advisor for
developing a strategy plan
for the environment
for 20 years and also
acting as an advisor
for the Administrator of
Economic Development
as a climate change
technical person to
address the international
issue of climate change.

We asked
Mr. Soares Barbosa
about the effects
of climate change
as seen in Timor-Leste.

We have El Niño,
every four years
we have a problem
with drought,
and desertification.
La Niña can result in
some flooding.
So during the La Niña time,
we have a lot of rain,
so we have
high density rain patterns.
But for El Niño,
every four years
we have drought.

In the past 30 years over
2.8 billion people have
been affected by floods
worldwide,
with over 95% of them
residing in Asia.

Floods deeply impact
families, homes
and livelihoods.
Widespread crop damage
caused by flooding
can have an immensely
negative effect
on a nation’s ability to
feed itself, and injures
social welfare and
a country’s economy.

During 2009, 2010,
we have had some problems
with floodings
that affected
at least 6,000 people
in Timor-Leste.
They needed to be
evacuated to safe places
due to the problem
of floodings.
And then we have also
a problem with
our national
agriculture production.
In 2002, 2003, we lost
corn production by 34%.

Statistical data is indicating
that we have a problem
with drought and flooding
affecting our,
food security and
agriculture production
in Timor-Leste.
And we also have a problem
with our bridges
and roads infrastructure.
In Suai in 2007, 2008,
our bridges in Suai
were damaged by flooding,
not only Suai,
even in Loes,
even in Manatuto,
even in Laleia.

We have problems
with flooding
that affected our bridges
in Timor-Leste.
And also landslides.
Recently in Quelicai,
thousands lost
their infrastructure,
they lost their houses,
they lost their rice fields
and also other crops.
So this is very important
for us.
That needs to be addressed
by developing
appropriate action
at national
and international levels.

Respected
Australian oceanographer
Dr. John Church
is part of the Marine
and Atmospheric
Research division
of the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation,
which is Australia’s
national science agency.
He is an expert
on sea level rise
and has studied its effects
on Asia and elsewhere.

The reasons
for sea-level rise
are firstly warming
of the oceans.
The oceans
are absolutely central
to climate change.
If you want to understand
climate change, you have
to understand the oceans.
They have absorbed
a huge amount of heat.
As they warm, they expand
and sea-level rises.

There are many islands
in the Pacific
the Indian oceans,
that will all be impacted
by sea level rise, and
perhaps more important
are the many deltas
around the world,
where there are many
large populations living
right next to the coast.
Not only is sea level rising,
but the land
in these regions
is sinking also.
These combined impacts
will have
very serious implications
through the 21st century
and beyond.

We also have
sea level rise problems.
When the government,
the government of
Indonesia, in the 1980s,
they opened a road
along Pantai Kelapa
there was a big separation
between sea water
and land, but now
it’s already impacted
and this road
is already impacted
by sea water, by waves.
So this is indicating
we have a sea level rise
problem as well.

A stark reality faced
by many island nations
right now is the danger
of totally disappearing.
On October 17, 2009,
the government of
the Maldives conducted
a cabinet meeting
entirely underwater,
where the nation’s president
His Excellency
Mohamed Nasheed
and other top officials
signed a document
calling for all countries
to take immediate action
to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to protect
low-lying nations.

The Maldives is less than
one meter above sea level.
So if there is no action,
by 2020,
the Maldives will be lost.
If the Maldives is lost,
how can we
evacuate Maldivians
to be in other countries?
For this
we have to establish
international mechanisms,
insurance for
losses and damage.

We need to have an
international mechanism
that ensures
vulnerable people
to be safe at that time,
if temperatures increase.
Even for Timor-Leste,
if Timor-Leste
will lose land,
then we will ask for
an international
insurance mechanism
to address this issue
by allocation of some
amount of money for us
to take adaptation actions.

Augusto Mario Pinto,
Timor-Leste’s director of
the National Directorate
of Environment as well
as the State Secretary
for Environment
is also highly concerned
about global warming
and strongly believes in
the necessity of cooperation
between governments
and people of all nations
to overcome the
climate change challenge.

If only several countries
protect and conserve
the environment,
but the other groups,
they still destroy it, then,
I think it doesn't make sense
because the issues
are still there, and
climate change issues
will come up.
Because
once we are talking about
environmental issues
or climate change,
it's borderless.
So, if there is
any air pollution
in Australia, it's not meant
that only Australia
will get impacted,
but Timor-Leste
can get impacted,
Indonesia can get impacted
or Pacific countries
can also get impacted.

So we need to think
that the environment is
not only the responsibility
of the local people or
of one single country, but
this is our responsibility.
So people in this world,
we need to be together.
Not only think about
the economic situation.
We need to think globally,
but we should act locally.
This is
a very important thing.
Otherwise
you just talk and talk, but
if you do not act locally,
then the issues
are still there.

Timor-Leste is taking
various actions and
is employing a number of
different policies
to tackle the issue
of global warming.
Mr. Soares Barbosa now
provides more details.

The government
has established
two directorates
as part of an institutional
arrangement to address
climate change issues.
The first directorate
is a national one
for the environment, and
the second directorate
is a national directorate
for international
environmental affairs.

Those two directorates
are assigned
by the government
of Timor-Leste to
formulate programs and
action plans to address
climate change issues
at a national level
and at the same time
those two directorates
are working together with
other related ministries
at a national level
to formulate appropriate
plans of action to address
climate change issues,
for now and for the future.

Second is the government
of Timor-Leste ratified
the United Nations
Framework Convention
on Climate Change
in 2006, and
it came into force in 2007.
And then, thirdly,
the government
of Timor-Leste also
ratified the Kyoto Protocol
in 2008,
and it came into force
in January 2009.

And then, the fourth step
of the government
of Timor-Leste to address
climate change issues
is that the government
is currently developing
a national policy
on the environment that
governs all related issues
regarding climate change.

And the fifth commitment
of the government
of Timor-Leste
is that we are developing
our own national
strategic plan for 20 years
that will be approved by
the Council of Ministers
by the end of this year.
This covers everything
related to
adaptation, mitigation,
capacity building and
also financial resources
that we are requiring
to address
climate change adaptation
and to adopt some
sorts of new technology
to address
climate change issues
in the vital sectors.

And sixth the government
of Timor-Leste
is working closely with
international communities.
We are developing
our national
adaptation program
of action to address
climate change issues.
The project is undergoing.
So the aim of this project
is to identify,
to prioritize the needs
of adaptation measures
that could be made,
could be implemented
by the government
of Timor-Leste
at national levels
so that our community
could adapt to
the climate change impact
that we are facing now
in terms of
climate change impacts
to the agriculture sectors.

Climate change is faced
by our water resources,
and other related issues
in terms of food security
and health as well.
Even infrastructure,
we involve all those
stakeholders together so
we make our national plan
to address
climate change adaptation.
And then
the next commitment is
that we are going
to have a national report
on climate change.

We called it Initial
National Communication
to the United Nations
Framework Convention
on Climate Change.
Then the last commitment,
we are promoting
solar panel use.
We are promoting
a biogas project.
We are promoting
a hydropower project,
and we are promoting
also a wind power project
in various locations
in Timor-Leste, that could
generate electricity
in our rural communities
but at the same time
there will be no emissions.

To close, our sincere thanks
Secretariat of State
for Environment
Adao Soares Barbosa
and director of
the National Directorate
of Environment
and State Secretary
for Environment
Augusto Mario Pinto
for taking time
from your busy schedules
to discuss Timor-Leste’s
national response
to climate change
and we wish you
and all the citizens
of Timor-Leste
the brightest of futures.

For more details
on the nation
of Timor Leste,
please visit
www.Gov.East-Timor.org

Through encouraging
the gentler care
of our planet and
compassionate living,
all nations of the world
can work together
to quickly overcome
climate change.
Gracious viewers,
thank you for joining us
today on Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment
right after
Noteworthy News.
May your days
be filled with sunshine
and much love.